THERE are few bigger challenges in the pantheon of great sporting events than attempting to win the Randox Grand National.

Hard as they tried, outstanding champion jockeys like Terry Biddlecombe, Josh Gifford, Stan Mellor, Jonjo O’Neill, John Francome, Peter Scudamore, Charlie Swan and Richard Johnson never managed to lift the world-famous prize in their esteemed riding careers. The latter had a record 21 attempts without success, it famously took A.P. McCoy 15 tries to notch his sole win in the Aintree feature and Davy Russell needed 14 goes before making the breakthrough on Tiger Roll in 2018.